We kicked off the second day of the sprint by reviewing the activities from the previous day. From this, we quickly realized we couldn’t solve the four problems we had identified during the sprint. The first exercise was to decide on the challenge to focus on for the remainder of the sprint. Using the voting dots, each participant selected a challenge they felt if solved would have the most impact. With just one voting round, we identified iTax’s usability as an issue that would be tackled during the sprint.

Do you have an idea on #ICT #ICT4D which you’d like to explore? Submit your idea to the CIPESA-ICT4Democracy #Media or #Academia Fellowship Programme. The next deadline is April 1st!! See links below.
Academia: http://bit.ly/2FQ4QO9
#ICT4DemEA

Fellowship Opportunity |
Do you have an idea on #ICT #ICT4D which you’d like to explore? Submit your idea to the CIPESA-ICT4Democracy #Media or #Academia Fellowship Programme. The next deadline is April 1st!! See links below
Media: http://bit.ly/2GaOyyx
#ICT4DemEA

The agriculture and education sectors are identified among the primary growth sectors in the Uganda’s National Development Plan. However, despite consistent state budget allocation increments in recent years and high absorption rates, various challenges persist at implementation and service delivery. For instance, in the Financial Year 2015/16, the education sector under primary education, planned to construct 22 primary schools and 200 classrooms but only one school and two classrooms were constructed. Indeed, in the Rwenzori region in western Uganda, citizens are decrying poor services under government programmes.Continue Reading →

Last week, we asked “What is Service Design?” and answered our question with “Service design is the process of taking a service and better tailoring it to the needs and wants of the end user, whether that’s a client, customer or in the case of civic service design, the citizen. It could be improving an existing service, or creating a new service totally from scratch.”

On December 5th, Pollicy and the Collaboration in International ICT Policy for Eastern and Southern Africa (CIPESA) brought back the civic technology community in Uganda, but this time, with a focus on data and design. As issues of data ownership, digital security, censorship become more pertinent in our society, so does the need to appropriately harness the benefits of big data. Through a series of interesting panel discussions, lightening talks and a hands-on design training, we took participants through a journey on how data can be used to revolutionize how citizens and governments interact for mutual benefit.

Neonatal mortality remains a key issue of public health concern in Kenya and currently stands at 22 per 1,000 live births [2]. Premature births (less than 37 completed weeks of gestation) accounts for 12% of all under 5 mortality in Kenya and approximately over 180,000 infants in Kenya are born prematurely every year [3]. Preterm infants need admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where care is mainly focused on infants thus neglecting the role of mothers. Most mothers of infants born prematurely often suffer from depression, grief, and guilt, which are rooted in not giving birth to a healthy baby [1,10]. Extended periods of separation from the baby, the absence of information or lack of understanding, loss of parental roles, fear of possible outcome and lack of communication with health care providers aggravate the difficulties experienced by mothers regarding prematurity [9, 10].Continue Reading →

As a taxpayer in Uganda, trying to access services that you are fully entitled to can be a serious headache. Take for example, the process of procuring a passport for the first time. Most of us have been there and might prefer to get a root canal procedure instead of repeating the process. You may say that these processes were designed without any direction. And you might be right!

Are you a techie that’s looking to harness technology and design for the public good? Are you part of a government department or civil society organization interested in how data can improve public service delivery? Want to know what “service design” is all about? Then, this is the event for you!

We have partnered with Pollicy, a civic technology organisation and are excited to bring you the latest in civic technology in Uganda, with a focus on data and design. As issues of data ownership, digital security, censorship become more pertinent in our society, so does the need to appropriately harness the benefits of big data.

A prevailing culture of secrecy among public officials in Tanzania at both central and local government levels is hindering the work of journalists, according to findings by a recent study. This is affecting access to information necessary for media reporting towards increased civic participation, transparency and accountability in governance.
The study which was conducted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Tanzania Chapter in partnership with the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) assessed the responsiveness of local government authorities (LGAs) and central government offices in Tanzania to citizens’ information requests.Continue Reading →

Upcoming Events

ICT4DA 2019 is the 2nd international conference that aims to bring together researchers, engineers, developers, and practitioners from the academia and the industry to present and discuss their research work Continue Reading →

The effects of ICT on human beings as well as the interaction between ICT, individuals, and society are all within the focus of this conference. Today, computer science and ICT-related Continue Reading →

Indeed, spreading the physical footprint of FIFAfrica across different regions of the continent ensures that the Forum lives up to its goal of unpacking internet freedom challenges and opportunities in Continue Reading →

African economies are growing faster than those of Europe or North America. Africa has the world’s youngest population too. So, equipping young Africans with the skills they need to compete Continue Reading →

The AfriLabs Annual Gathering provides a unique opportunity for tech hubs in the AfriLabs network and other stakeholders in the African tech ecosystem. Click here for more information about the Continue Reading →

About Us

The Information and Communications Technologies 4 Democracy (ICT4D) Network in East Africa was established in 2012 and initiated by Spider partners in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. ICT4D aims to harness information and communication technologies (ICTs) to achieve economic, social and political goals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Read more>>